• Kuvempunagar man loses Rs. 65,000; Hunsur farmer couple robbed off Rs. 5.5 lakh
• Take care of your cash bags while exiting from banks after  withdrawing money

Mysuru/Mysore/Hunsur: Incidents of criminals looting jewellery and cash from shops and business establishments have seen a downward trend but there is an increased trend of people being robbed on the road where their cash bags are snatched. 

Two incidents have been reported in Mysuru and neighbouring Hunsur and both the crimes have occurred near banks and in broad daylight. Criminals lay in wait for their potential victims in crowded areas and watch their movements after they come out of the bank with cash and snatch the cash bag and flee within seconds. Both the crimes were committed by bike-borne miscreants. 

Rs. 62,000 cash bag snatched

The incident that occurred in Mysuru on Thursday last was reported from Kuvempunagar near the KSRTC Depot. Kumaraswamy, a resident of Kuvempunagar, lost Rs. 62,000 to the criminals. Kumaraswamy had entered the State Bank of India Vivekanandanagar Branch at around 1 pm and withdrew cash. He later put the cash into a bag and exited from the bank. 

Watching his movements, two bike-borne criminals snatched the cash bag and fled within moments. Kumaraswamy, in a state of shock for some seconds, realised later that his cash bag was stolen. He raised an alarm but by then, the bike-borne duo had vanished. He later filed a Police complaint. 

The Kuvempunagar Police rushed to the spot and conducted a spot mahazar. CCTV cameras installed at shops are being scanned now to trace the culprits. 

Farmer couple loses Rs. 5.5 lakh

A case with similar modus operandi was reported from Hunsur where a farmer couple was targeted and Rs. 5.5 lakh cash bag was snatched from them. Again here bike-borne duo committed the crime. The farmer couple had entered a bank to withdraw money that they had deposited after selling their agricultural produce and ginger that they had grown. 

The couple has been identified as Shivannegowda and Gowramma, residents of Honnenahalli in Hunsur taluk. Yesterday morning, the couple had come to Hunsur and had been to Canara Bank in a crowded area of Hunsur. After withdrawing Rs. 5.5 lakh, the couple kept the cash inside a cash bag and Shivannegowda was holding it. 

Two youths on a bike were observing the couple exiting the bank and closely watched their movements. As the husband and wife were walking in front of Taluk Office, the duo suddenly appeared from the side of a nearby petrol pump and snatched the cash bag from Shivannegowda. 

Realising that their hard-earned money has been snatched, the couple raised alarm and approached the Hunsur Town Police. 

Since it was a crowded area, the criminals could flee without a trace. Hunsur Police Inspector K.C. Poovaiah has formed a team to nab the duo and the Police are now scouting for CCTV camera visuals on the Taluk Office Road and the surroundings of petrol station. 

Mysuru Superintendent of Police C.B. Ryshyanth visited the crime scene and collected information. 

Dy.SP Sundar Raj revealed that the investigating team has already got the facial image of the criminals and the registration details of the bike used for the crime that were captured in one of the CCTV cameras. They will be arrested soon, he added.